DIAGNOSTIC IMPORTANCE OF MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASE 2 AND 9 AS ADDITIONAL BIOMARKERS IN THE SERA OF BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Introduction: Tumor invasion and metastasis are the critical steps in breast cancer, leading to detrimental conditions. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 and 9 play significant role in progression of breast cancer by degrading type IV collagen. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to estimate the concentration of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the sera of breast cancer patients using zymography and correlate data with existing clinical parameters. Materials & Methods: Sera was collected from 70 breast cancer patients before surgery or who underwent surgery and 50 healthy controls and the activity levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were quantified by performing gelatin zymography. Statistical analysis was carried out by using SPSS statistical software (version 20) and Minitab (version 16). Results: The results show that average levels of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 were significantly higher in sera of breast tumor patients as compared to sera of benign breast disease and control group (p<0.001). Additionally, statistical analysis revealed significant direct correlations between levels of both MMPs with different clinical parameters including breast tumor stage, size and tumor grade. Moreover, it was also found that high serum levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were associated with lymph node metastasis. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the importance of the detection of serum MMP-2 and MMP-9 as additional biomarkers for the diagnosis of breast cancer and significant clinical use of these enzymes in malignant tumor growth, invasion and metastasis.